TSA again delays deadline for passenger-airplane cargo security measures
About 7,500 tons of cargo is transported each day in the U.S. on passenger planes;about 50,000 employees, agents, and shippers have unescorted access to that cargo; TSA wants these employees to undergo rigorous background and criminal checks, but the airline industry keeps failing to meet the agency’s deadlines
Here we go again. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has delayed yet again the implementation of security requirements, criminal background checks, and threat assessments for tens of thousands of workers who handle passenger-airplane cargo. TSA said that the aviation industry is unable to meet the deadline, just as it was unable to meet previous deadlines. About 7,500 tons of cargo is transported on passenger planes each day.
TSA has pushed back several deadlines as required under a rule issued earlier this year. “TSA has concluded that the regulated community will be unable to meet some deadlines in the air-cargo final rule because of the large number of employees and agents subject to the requirements,” the agency said in a Federal Register notice Wednesday. The conclusion was based on more than 4,500 comments from industry in response to the final rule, TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser said. Kayser said other requirements of the rule still apply, such as multiple security layers, random screening and the “known shipper” program.
The cargo rule called for aircraft operators, foreign carriers, and indirect air carriers to ensure by 1 December 2006 that security threat assessments are completed on workers with unescorted access to cargo. That deadline also applied to agents, which are companies under contract with air carriers to perform a security responsibility. The deadline has now been extended until 15 March 2007 for employees of aircraft operators, foreign air carriers, and indirect air carriers — and 15 June 2007 for employees of agents. The deadline applies to about 50,000 workers. Note that indirect air carriers also would have until 22 November 2006 to ensure that employees or agents are properly trained in order to perform security-related duties. The deadline for employees remains the same but has been pushed back to 15 June 2007 for agents.
Starting this week, airport operators also were to ensure that anyone with unescorted access to cargo areas underwent a criminal history check, held appropriate identification, successfully completed training in accordance with TSA-approved curriculum, and underwent a name-based security threat assessment by TSA. That deadline has now been extended to 22 January 2007.
-read more in Chris Strohm’s National Journal Technology Daily report
